A glorious treat…
Last night I received an email from an exhuberant father..announcing the birth of his daughter the day before. I am always excited at the birth of a baby, especially when it is accompanied by pictures (a gorgeous baby and an exhuberant Dad!). The trouble was I had no idea who the email was from.
I racked my brain. A former Lamaze student? A former nursing student? A student in the Lamaze childbirth educator program? One of my children’s friends (with a different last name)? Was this email a mistake?
I emailed back congratulations, of course. Baby Livia was gorgeous. Her Dad was obviously ecstatic. And, his email let me know that Mom had been ” a trooper”. I felt like I wanted to know this little family.
And, as it turns out, I did. Last year, just about this time, I reveived an email from a stranger. A woman who wanted information about natural birth and home birth. Someone, I don’t know who, had given her my name. I was then, as I am now, in Ireland. I remember sitting on my sofa looking out at the sea and sending several long emails to Lisa. Emails loaded with musings and facts about birth and babies. I encouraged her to read our book. She wanted to know more about home birth. I talked to her about that and told her to contact Miriam Swartzchild, a home birth midwife in New York City, to find out more about home birth. She shared that she was not pregnant but thinking about it, and making plans. What a wise woman!
The mystery of who Livia’s mother was was solved later today. Lisa’s husband shared that ” My wife wanted me to write a quick thank you to you for having recommended Miriam Schwartzchild. We had a wonderful home birth experience with her and Lisa recalls your encouraging emails and recommendation to be a big reason for it”. As a result Lisa insisted that I be on the “email list”.
Every day brings little opportunities for influencing women’s choices and people’s lives. The several days of emails back and forth with Lisa, not even pregnant yet, a woman I had never met, made a big difference. We never really know the influence we have. What a treat, a glorious treat, to hear from Lisa about Livia’s birth!
June 30th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Judith,
I have a recent similar story!
I am a LCCE, and teach a 2 hour coping with labor pain class along with other classes. I had a mom in class, 10 days before her due date. She stayed after class to tell me that her OB had told her that based on her third trimester u/s, it was determined that her baby had unusually LARGE shoulders. Her doctor was very worried about shoulder dystocia and was recommending a scheduled c/s.
I told her all the usual things, (accuracy of u/s late in preg, pelvis opens from within as baby passes through, positions that help descent and birth, etc…I also told her that I believed she could birth this baby! I offered to send her a little relaxation/visualization that I had for her to listen to.
After she received the mp3 file, she wrote me an email and told me that she had already listened to it and found it very helpful. She also told me that she had lost her mucus plug, and she felt that meant her body DID know what to do, and was starting to do it on it’s own.
I wrote her back four words! I BELIEVE IN YOU!
Fast forward a week, walking through L&D to get my teaching materials, she comes out of a room holding a baby, and comes over to give me a hug. As we are hugging, she starts sobbing, and we stand embracing for a long minute, while she cries. She whispers in my ear, Thank you so much, you were the ONLY one who believed in me! The only one! She tells me she went in to labor on her own, and eventually pushed out her babe in less than an hour! All 8 lbs of him! She is 4ft 11 inches!
What a chance encounter, two hours of class, the risk she took in confiding in me about her fears/concerns and how four simple words from a virtual stranger carried her to success!
You never know what impact you could have, coming from the most casual of contacts!
I wanted to share!
Sharon
LCCE, CD(DONA)
New Moon Birth
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Judith,
I wish that I had met you when I came to Ireland this past spring. I would have loved sitting and talking about birth with you. I did get to meet a Doula while in Dublin. I have often wondered if perhaps there is a place for me on that beautiful island as a Labor/Postpartum Doula as well as an Educator.
I am still thinking about it and would welcome any insight that you may have.
Blessings,
Molly